Dec. 4, 2005
ATLANTA (AP) – Jeremis Smith scored a career-high 17 points and just missed another double-double, leading Georgia Tech past Virginia 63-54 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener Sunday.
The sophomore forward grabbed 9 rebounds in a strong follow-up to his 14-point, 10-rebound performance at Michigan State four nights earlier.
Georgia Tech (3-2, 1-0 ACC) snapped a two-game losing streak against the cold-shooting Cavaliers, who hit less than 28 percent from the field. Virginia (3-2, 0-1) missed 14 of its first 15 shots, went 0-of-13 from 3-point range and trailed the entire game.
The Yellow Jackets led 29-17 at halftime and pushed the margin to 18 points early in the second half. The Cavaliers closed to four a couple of times late in the game, but Georgia Tech sealed the victory at the foul line.
Smith, Zam Fredrick, Anthony Morrow and D’Andre Bell combined to make 9 of 10 free throws in the final two minutes. Up to that point, the Yellow Jackets were 9 of 17 from the stripe.
Morrow scored 13 points while Fredrick and Ra’Sean Dickey added 11 apiece.
Jason Cain led Virginia with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome a dismal night by point guard Sean Singletary. The sophomore managed just 10 points – nine below his average – on 3-of-23 shooting from the field. He missed all five of his 3-pointers and compounded his woes with more turnovers (4) than assists (3).
The Cavaliers’ other starting guard, J.R. Reynolds, struggled as well. He was 1-of-7 shooting, going 0-for-4 outside the arc, and turned the ball over six times.
Virginia did stand out in one category, outrebounding the Yellow Jackets 52-41. Of course, all those misses gave the Cavaliers plenty of chances to crash the offensive boards, which accounted for more than half (28) of their total rebounds.
Mamadi Diane added 14 for Virginia, which lost its ACC opener for the 11th year in a row. The Cavaliers haven’t started 1-0 in conference play since an 81-75 victory at Florida State in 1995.
